Assignment-1

Marks: 2
Deadline for Submission: 25 September, 2014

[Note: All the policies regarding assignments as discussed in the introductory class must be followed strictly]

Question 1:
http://www.sacm.org/default.aspx the given website (as a information document). Answer the following:
Analyze Readers.
I. Is the website designed to inform, provide analysis or to persuade? Explain.
ii. What are the main features of this website for a reader? Is it an academic or a technical content?
explain.
iii. Who are the targeted readers of this website? Mention their characterisitcs.

Question 2:
Read the following document carefully and answer the following 3 questions:
i) What is the purpose of the document?
ii) Who are the readers and what are their needs?
iii) How the document differs with the academic writing?

To: Rev. Mark Smith
From: Nicole Johnson
Date: March 10, 2011

Subject: A proposal to purchase new pencil sharpeners for the classrooms of St. Marys School
Purpose
I write this letter to propose a solution to a recurring problem at St. Marys School. The problem is that the pencil sharpeners in the classrooms are
very old and do not work effectively anymore. Students and teachers continually become frustrated because it is difficult to sharpen a pencil with the
current sharpeners, and pencils that are sharp are crucial for effective learning.
I suggest that we order new pencil sharpeners for each classroom so that the students will have pencils that work well and will therefore be able to
write without the frustration of worn down pencil points.
Problem of Ineffective Pencil Sharpeners
There are 217 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Marys School. These students occupy 12 classrooms each day. None of
these classrooms has a pencil sharpener that works well; it takes several minutes to sharpen just one pencil.
This means that if all of the students need to sharpen their pencils once a day (depending on how much writing is being done, a pencil may need
sharpened more than once a day), it could take an average of thirty minutes to sharpen them all before the students can sit down to their desks and
start learning the days lessons. Thirty minutes of time spent sharpening pencils takes away a great deal from instructional time.
However, not all the students need to sharpen their pencils at the same time. This need arises at various times throughout the day, often at the
beginning of a test or a new lesson.
Because of the length of time it takes to sharpen a pencil, the teachers have continuous interruptions in their lessons throughout the day. Almost
everything done in a classroom requires a pencil, especially as students get older, and it is difficult to get anything done without this basic tool.
The current pencil sharpeners have been in the classrooms as long as Mrs. Morris has taught here, and that is over thirty years. They do not work well
because they have been in use for so long. Even after sharpening for several minutes, the pencil points still are not as sharp as they should be, and
the points break off easily, causing them to need to be sharpened yet again.

Solution to the Problem
I propose that we purchase electric pencil sharpeners for each classroom. These work quickly and effectively, and take only a few seconds to sharpen
a pencil.
Office World carries several pencil sharpeners designed specifically for schools and the high volume of use the sharpeners get in classrooms.
I propose we purchase 12 of the Used-All-Day Pro Student Electric Pencil Sharpeners. These sharpeners have received strong reviews on the Office
World web site. In addition, Central Elementary School purchased these for all their classrooms four years ago, and their principal has told me how
well they still work.
Costs
The Used-All-Day Pro Student Electric Pencil Sharpeners cost $42.29 each. However, Office World gives a discount if purchasing ten or more,
reducing the cost to $35.29 each. Because we are a member of the Office World Schools frequent shopper program, we will receive 2% of our
purchase back at the end of the school year. This makes the total cost of the purchase $415.01.
Several electric sharpeners exist that cost more and less than this one, but because of the recommendations of others, I believe that purchasing a
middle-priced sharpener will be a wise choice for St. Marys School. Because Office World offers free shipping for purchases over $50, we will not have
any shipping costs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think purchasing new electric pencil sharpeners for each classroom would be of tremendous benefit to St. Marys School. It would put
an end to the constant frustration of students never being able to find sharp pencils, and of losing instructional time because of the length of time it
takes to use our current sharpeners.
Thank you for considering making this purchase for our teachers and students!


Question 3:

The following document lacks an Executive Summary. Read the Body and Conclusion carefully and
write an Executive Summary. 2 marks


Executive Summary


















Background

There has been a massive increase in the use of personal mobile phones over the past five years and there is every
indication that this will continue. According to Black (2002) by 2008 almost 100% of working people in Australia
will carry personal mobile phones. Black describes this phenomenon as serious in the extreme, potentially
undermining the foundations of communication in our society (2002, p 167). Currently at UniLab 89% of staff have
personal mobile phones.

Recently a number of staff have complained about the use of personal mobile phones in meetings and asked what
the official company policy is. At present there is no official company policy regarding phone use. This report
examines the issue of mobile phone usage in staff meetings and small team meetings. It does not seek to examine the
use of mobile phones in the workplace at other times, although some concerns were raised.

For the purposes of this report a personal mobile phone is a personally funded phone for private calls as opposed to
an employer funded phone that directly relates to carrying out a particular job.





Methods

This research was conducted by questionnaire and investigated UniLab staff members attitudes to the use of mobile
phones in staff / team meetings. A total of 412 questionnaires were distributed with employees' fortnightly pay slips
(see Appendix 1). The questionnaire used Lekert scales to assess social attitudes (see Smith 2002) to mobile phone
usage and provided open ended responses for additional comments. Survey collection boxes were located in every
branch for a four week period. No personal information was collected; the survey was voluntary and anonymous.

Results

There was an 85% response rate to the questionnaire. A breakdown of the responses is listed below in Table 1. It can
be clearly seen from the results that mobile phones are considered to be disruptive and should be turned off in
meetings.


Table 1




The survey also allowed participants to identify any circumstances where mobile phones should be allowed in
meetings and also assessed staff attitudes towards receiving personal phone calls in staff meetings in open ended
questions. These results showed that staff thought that in some circumstances, eg medical or emergencies, receiving
personal phone calls was acceptable, but generally receiving personal phone calls was not necessary.

Discussion / Interpretation of Results

It can be seen from the results in Table 1 that personal mobile phone use is considered to a problem; however it was
acknowledged that in some situations it should be permissible. 80% of recipients considered mobile phones to be
highly disruptive and there was strong support for phones being turned off in meetings (85%). Only 12% thought
that mobile phone usage in staff and team meetings was not a problem, whereas 85% felt it was an issue. The results
are consistent throughout the survey.
Many of the respondents (62%) felt that in exceptional circumstances mobile phones should be allowed, eg medical,
but there should be protocols regarding this.

These findings are consistent with other studies. According to Smith (2005) many companies have identified mobile
phones as disruptive and have banned the use of mobile phones in meetings. Havir (2004) claims that 29% of staff
meeting time is wasted through unnecessary mobile phone interruptions. This affects time management, productivity
and team focus.

Conclusion

The use of mobile phones in staff meetings is clearly disruptive and they should be switched off. Most staff felt it is
not necessary to receive personal phone calls in staff meetings except under certain circumstances, but permission
should first be sought from the team leader, manager or chair.

Recommendations

It is recommended that UniLab develops an official policy regarding the use of mobile phones in staff meetings. The
policy should recommend:

mobile phones are banned in staff meetings
mobiles phone may be used in exceptional circumstances but only with the
permission of the appropriate manager or chair

Finally, the policy needs to apply to all staff in the company.



Question 4:
i) Consider the following scenario:

Original Text
Increasingly, researchers have been turning to identical and fraternal twins for answers, with dramatic results. They
are finding that genetics, in addition to familial interests, educational, social and other environmental pressures, have
a considerable impact on how we choose what we do--and how happy we are with that choice.
Source: Segal, Nancy L. New Twins Studies Show: The Career of Your Dreams May Be the Career of Your
Genes. Psychology Today. Sept./Oct. 2006: 54-60.

A writer wrote the following paragraph based on the above original text in his document:
To answer the question of how genetics influence career choices, researchers have turned to identical and fraternal
twins, with impressive results. They have found that genetics, in additional to familial interests, educational, social
and other environmental pressures, have a major impact on how people choose what they doand how satisfied
they are with that choice.
Is it a violation of ethical issues in writing? Give reasons.

ii) You are preparing a project proposal regarding reducing the traffic accident in Jeddah City. In this
proposal, you used a photo from the following source:
http://www.salamaep.org/en/News/Images.aspx?cid=13#FaceBox[gallery1]/0/
Is it a violation of ethical issues in writing? Justify.